Keys gets his penny’s worth in.
There was much controversy following the announcement of the Liverpool team for their Champions League clash with Real Madrid on Tuesday night.
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Despite it being one of the showpiece events of their season manager Brendan Rodgers chose to leave first team regulars Steven Gerrard, Philippe Coutinho, Jordan Henderson, Dejan Lovren and Raheem Sterling on the bench.
Instead the Northern Irishman fielded many unproven youngsters at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu and were duly beaten 1-0 in a game Madrid dominated – even if the Reds were given some credit for the way they performed.
Former Sky Sports presenter Richard Keys – who left the broadcaster in a cloud of controversy following accusations of sexism – agrees with the sentiments of those that criticsed Rodgers’ team selection.
“I couldn’t believe what I was hearing when the team news from Madrid dropped last night. No Gerrard. No Henderson. Only four first team regulars – Mignolet, Skrtel, Moreno and Joe Allen. For a game in the Bernabeau against Real Madrid?” Keys wrote in his blog.
“Aren’t nights like that what all the blood, the sweat and ultimately all the tears were about last season? Aren’t nights like that in the DNA of a once mighty Liverpool – 5 times European Cup winners?
“When Jose Mourinho played a weak team against Liverpool last season Steven Gerrard said he’d ‘destroyed the game’. What on earth was he thinking last night when Rodgers told him he’d be sitting out the biggest game of Liverpool’s season so far?
“And what of the 5,000 Liverpool fans that spent hard earned money on travel, tickets and accommodation expecting to see their team out Real to the sword, just as they had done in Paris in 1981? Didn’t they deserve better?”
Many believe that Rodgers was saving his best players for the Premier League clash with Chelsea on Saturday, but with the controversy that is surrounding the decision even more pressure is on the 41-year-old now to beat the league leaders at Anfield.